


Needles and Dolls

by angel_of_light



Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: 1930s, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Drinking, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, Father-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Multi, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Slow Burn, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 11:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14019381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_of_light/pseuds/angel_of_light
Summary: She sold her soul to save her daughter. Get in, do her time, and get out. At least, that was the plan.FOLLOW THE BLOG: www.needlesanddolls.tumblr.com





	1. Chapter 1

It was a hot night on Inkwell Isle. A cloudless sky up above with the moon smiling down on her. She could hear the waves crashing against the shoreline in the distance as she crossed the train tracks into the caves. It was a beautiful night, but Victoria didn’t have the time nor the motivation to enjoy it. Sweat dripped down her face as she got closer to the Devil’s Casino, and it wasn’t just from the heat. Victoria had heard the rumors, the stories, of people coming here for a good time and leaving with nothing but the clothes on their back. Sometimes with less than that. It had happened to her good friend Cagney and she called him an idiot for doing it. Now, she’s about to call herself a hypocrite.

The fast-paced jazz echoed across the cave and the beat pumped in time with the beating of the bright red heart on her chest. The casino was massive, with giant pillars in the shape of chess pieces and giant die that guided her to the front door. The Devil’s grinning face looked down at her ,almost mockingly, and saying I know why you’re here. 

Victoria took a moment to calm herself before pushing open the door. A rush of cold air, smoke, and music bombarded her sense. Everyone was sharply dressed and gambling in some shape or form. Victoria herself stood out like a sore thumb in her high-waisted black trousers and white button up, a hand-me-down from her mother, but she paid no mind to the other patrons’ whispers and stares. Victoria made her way to the back of the casino, not apologizing to anyone who got in her way, to a door that read ‘Employees Only’ before a gloved hand on her wrist stopped her. A rather tall man with a dice for a head in a royal purple suit with a bow tie resting at the would-be base of his neck and a pencil mustache atop his lip smiled a sleezebag smile at her.

“I’m afraid you can’t go back there, miss.” he said in a condescending tone.

“She sucked her teeth at him, “Says who?”

“Says the manager of this fine establishment. Now, is there something I can do for you?”

“I need to see your boss.” Victoria demanded as she snatched her hand away from him and turned towards the door again.

“The boss ain’t in a good mood right-”

“I don’t give a damn, and I don’t need a some good-for-nothing lackey on a power trip telling me what I can or can’t do.” His smile quickly turned into a sneer as he reared his hand back to strike her but a voice, deep and dark, cut through the music.

“Let her in, Dice.”

Dice, apparently, lowered his hand while staring at her with fire in his eyes but nonetheless opened the door for her. Not wanting to be intimidated by him, she glared back with the same intensity before following the voice down the long set of stairs.

The stairs weren’t only long, they were dark, wet, and had no railings which made the trip a lot longer than she thought necessary. Stalagmites and stalactites were on every inch of the cave, threatening to drop at any minute. The echoes of her heels against the stone steps did nothing to help quell her fear, but she’ll be damned if she was going to let it show. As Victoria reached the bottom, fires lit seemingly by themselves until it reached an opening. The figure sitting on the humongous throne was just as huge with his pearly white horns and fur-covered body. She could see the tail flick back and forth, almost like her daughters cat. But the most frightening feature was the Devil’s eyes. Bright yellow they seemed to stare into her very soul, which might actually happen, now that she thought about it. Victoria couldn’t locate his trademark pitchfork, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.

“Well, if it isn’t the woman with a temper. What’s your name?” his voice shook her bones how baritone it was.

“Vic-Victoria Doll.” Despite her ferocity with Dice, her voice was unsteady and unsure and she hated it.

“I assume you’re here to make a deal. You wouldn’t insult my manager like that if you weren’t.”

“Yes, I need you to save my daughter’s life,” she reached into her pocket for the portrait she had brought from home and showed it to him,” she’s sick and I’ve tried everything. I’ll do anything. I can work, whatever you need me to do I can do it, just please make sure she has a long and happy life.” Victoria was begging but she didn’t care. Her daughter, Regina, was a doll to be around. Always respectful, always minding her manners, and she couldn’t hurt a fly. Her fiery red hair in pigtails was her signature, and she wore it everyday. Regina had contracted meningitis somehow and the doctors say that she doesn’t have much time left.

What kind of mother would she be if she didn’t do anything when her solution was an hour away? This her last chance to save her daughter. 

“I can cook, I can dance, I can fight-”

The Devil held up a hand. “You say you can fight?” She nodded and he clapped his massive paws together and grinned,”Then we have a deal.”

She let go of the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and thanked him. The Devil stepped of his throne and shrunk to her size and conjured a parchment and a quill. She hesitated.

“Will I ever see my daughter again?” she asked with tears shining in her eyes.

“You may when I say you can.”

Victoria took the quill with her right hand. “I don’t have any ink.”

He quickly remedied that by stabbing her heart with a claw. Pain exploded across her chest as she fell to her knees and tried desperately to stem the blood flow. Her breathing was short and choppy and tears started streaming down her face. The pain was excruciating.

“Now you do.” said the Devil with a sick grin and he held out the parchment.

Quickly moving the pain to the back of her mind, Victoria gathered all the strength she could to lift the literal goddammed pen into her blood to sign her name, her soul, away. As soon as she did, the contract vanished in a puff of smoke as did the pain. Her breathing returned to normal and the bleeding had stopped completely. The only sign that she had bleed was the red stain that covered the entirety of her shirt. Victoria looked up at the Devil to ask what had happened, but he merely waved his hand and explained that she has three days to come back then she was back in front of the ‘Employees Only’ door. Dice was still there, surprisingly, leaning against the wall adjacent to the door and smoking a cigar. He looked at her and smiled. “So, how did it go?”

Victoria took two steps forward and clocked him in the jaw with a left hook.

“That’s how it went.” Then she left and didn’t look back.

____________________________________________

Victoria wiped away the tears on her face before she walked inside her home. She could do nothing about the blood stain on her shirt other than taking it off completely but she didn’t have time. Walking inside, she was greeted by the melodious sound of her daughter laughing and almost instantly her mood improved. Her father, Andy, was here, his gruff voice turned soft in the presence of his granddaughter. It was late and they both were supposed to be asleep but Victoria decided to let it slide. 

“Hi guys.” 

“Momma!” the exuberance in Regina’s voice brought tears to her eyes as she leapt out of bed to hug her tight.

“Hi, sweetheart. Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, the doctor said she’s completely healed. Almost like a miracle.” Andy interrupted, his voice tense and accusing. 

Her smile melted as she ran her fingers through her daughters hair and knelt down in front of her.

“Listen, baby, Momma has to go away for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“I won’t be far, but I’m not going to be able to see you and Grandpa as much. We can still send letters but you’re going to be living with Grandpa.”

“What did you do, Victoria?” 

She looked up with tears in her eyes,”What I had to do.”


	2. Chapter 2

The three days went by too fast. It was nearing sundown and her dreary little house seemed to big as she packed her suitcase. Victoria had absolutely no idea what she was going to be doing at the Devil’s Casino or how long it would be until she saw her family again, but she made her choice and she was going to take responsibility for her actions. Her suitcase was packed along with her spell book and her red brick dust for protection. Her Épée resting on her bed and bandages for her hands. All of this was for protection, of course, she had no idea if she was ever going to use them, but better safe than sorry. All that was left was to stop by Cagney and pick up some spell ingredients. Cagney and Victoria had known each other for years and they stood by each other for every stupid decision they had made. Not one year ago, Victoria had called Cagney an idiot for selling his soul, now she was going to say goodbye. Leaving her room she saw her daughter with tears in her eyes and holding their fat black cat Haiti close to her chest.

“Do you have to go?”

Victoria knelt down in front of her,”Yes baby, I wish I didn’t but I have to. But don’t worry I’ll see you again and we can still send letters all the time.”

“But the mailman only comes once a week to take mail.” Regina whined.

“Well, that just means we have more to talk about.” She gave a weak smile despite the tears threatening to leave her eyes and brought her in for a tight hug. “You’ll be good for Grandpa, right?”

Regina nodded as she sobbed against Victoria’s chest before pulling away, “Here, I want you to take Haiti.” She all but threw the cat at her, “She’ll protect you.” 

She thanked her and pressed a hard kiss on her forehead before making her way to the front door. The door where she would measure Regina’s growth every few months. I’m going to miss so much, she thought and a few renegade tears escaped her eyes. She looked back at her family once more, desperately trying to memorize their faces. Her father was stoic and stone-faced but she could see his eyes water as he watched his only child leave for who knows how long while her daughter was sobbing openly.

“I love you both, so much.”

And she left.

 

Walking to Cagney’s garden has never been so hard. Not even when her ex left and she needed support was it this hard. It was dusk now and her arms were hurting from carrying her suitcase and a box for the ingredients. Her swords were hooked onto her belt and they felt like they were weighing down every step, begging her not to go to that dreadful place. Even Haiti was meowing up a storm inside her shirt. The dirt road crunched under her feet with every step and soon she arrived. Cagney was watching the first stars of the night appear in the sky on his back seemingly without a care in the world. 

“Hey Cags.”

He stayed silent. No doubt he knows what she did. Victoria walked towards him and sat by his side.

“I know, I’m a hypocrite, but I couldn’t watch her die.”

Nothing. Not even a nod to acknowledge her presence.

“I came to say goodbye and to get a few things,” Her voice was raw and cracked from the crying she did on the way there,” Do you mind?”

She stood up and grabbed her little box to put the plants in when Cagney towered over her and pulled her in for a hug, mindful of his quills. 

“You are a hypocrite.”

She snorted and hugged him back twice as hard. The moment couldn’t last, unfortunately.

“Until next time, quill-for-brains.”

“Goodbye, rag hag.”

Her heart felt significantly lighter now that she had left without any hard feelings, and who knows, maybe they will see each other outside of the casino. When she finally reached the casino, Dice was waiting for her outside, chewing on a cigar.

“Well, if it isn’t Ms. Victoria Doll. I never introduced myself, I’m Mr. King Dice, you can call me Dice.” He greeted with a snarky smile.

“You may call me Ms. Doll.” She had no idea how he learned her name when she knows damn well she didn’t tell him, but better not to aggravate him anymore than she already has, considering he’s her boss now.

That smile stayed but he gritted his teeth as he brought her inside, “Now, the boss tells me you fight, that true?”

“I was a boxer with a 22 and 0 streak and a fencer.”

“Wonderful. You’ll be working as a bouncer with Mr. Wheezy and Mangosteen. The casino opens at 7 P.M. and runs until 5 A.M. You get two half-hour breaks and no overtime and you’ll get paid thirty-five cents an hour-”

“What?! But that’s barely over minimum wage-” At his stern look she changed her mind,”Fine.”

“And we’ll need to so something about,” He gestured to her outfit,”this.”

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” It was a simple black blouse and white knee-length skirt with a basic pair of heels. Comfortable and modest.

He simply rolled his eyes as he led her to two giant men. Now, Victoria is only 5′6″ and the heels give her an extra three inches and by no means intimidating, but that was nothing compared to them men before her. 

“This is Mangosteen,” Dice gestured to the 8-ball man in a suit with a wide torso, broad shoulders and a small lower half. He was at least 7 feet tall with a smile that stretched across his entire face and yellow, unblinking eyes that seemed like they stared into her soul, “and this is Mr. Wheezy.” Mr. Wheezy was significantly shorter than Mangosteen, only reaching his chest, but still taller than Victoria by about six inches. He was dressed as sharply as Mangosteen, if not better, and had a giant coat with a fur trim around the neck. Paired with a pale dress shirt, vest, and ascot, the walking cigar was handsome in a gangster sort of way with a cigar hanging in between his gloved fingers, while Mangosteen was downright terrifying.

“So this is the new bouncer. Good to meet you.” Mr. Wheezy had a slight accent (from where she couldn’t place) mixed with a rasp, most likely from smoking. 

“I’m Ms. Victoria Doll and it’s good to meet you too.”

“Now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way, I need to escort Victoria-”

“Ms.Doll.”

“-To her room and get her into a proper outfit.” As soon as Dice put his hand on his shoulder Haiti took that chance to pop out of her shirt to hiss at him. Victoria didn’t try to stop her. 

“Is that a cat? In your shirt?” asked Mangosteen.

“I have no control over her. She does what she pleases.”

“It needs to leave.” demanded Dice.

“She could help with the rat problem.” argued Mr.Wheezy.

Victoria snorted at Dice’s disgusted expression as Haiti hissed once more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!!!!! BODY HORROR AND VIOLENCE

It’s been six months since Victoria has seen her family. The mail carrier only comes by the casino once a week and only twice by her old, dingy house. Too scared to come by, she assumes. She writes two letters a day. One to her daughter, to which she only writes about how she was well fed and had a good place to sleep, which was somewhat true. She cooked the food King Dice ordered to the casino(since no one else would or could she didn't know) and the room she was given was extraordinary. A walk-in closet, a king size bed, and clothes made specifically for her. Victoria gave no hints to the fights she participated in almost daily. 

The letters to her father; however, sang a much darker tune. More often than not they were covered in tear stains and the envelopes were filled to the brim with gris-gris, protection charms, for them both. In the letters, she thanked him a hundred times over, but it seemed it was never enough. She sent half of whatever money she made home, to pay for groceries, medicine, and whatever repairs the house may need. 

How Victoria wished she could by her daughter the pretty dresses she saw in the windows, instead of hand sewn rags. Bless Regina, for she was a grateful and thankful child, never begging for more than what she had, although she deserved the world. It broke her heart. She knew how abusive children could be and more than once she would console Regina and desperately try to wipe the abusive words from her head. She could only hope she succeeded.

The Devil’s playpen felt too big and too loud. Slot machines gave coins and took coins. The roulette table was always spinning and the sound of a ball running around it was a constant. The flip of cards on poker and blackjack tables. The clatter of chips and the clink of glasses occupied her thoughts. The clack of the balls colliding at the billiard tables were sometimes louder than the cheers of winnings. The overbearing stench of alcohol and nicotine smoke was ingrained into her hair and clothes. The nicotine had been partially her fault. Since working at the casino, she had taken up smoking again to calm her nerves and to give her hands something to other than punching cheating gamblers.

Despite all the obvious negatives, there were some benefits to working here. Fresh and expensive clothes were in Victoria’s closet and the room was probably bigger than her old house. The bed occupied most of the room and had silk sheets and pillows filled with feathers. If she could get away with it, Victoria would send pillows and new clothes made from ones she outright refused to wear. Too impractical, she told the manager. Her fencing swords had been replaced with genuine rapiers. Beautiful things, along with an Italian leather made scabbard and sword belt. Thankfully, she hadn’t used it for anything other than threats.

The other workers weren’t so bad, except for the sleazeball manager. The bartenders, Mr.Rum, Mr. Scotch, and Ms. Martini were constantly drunk and nicknamed The Tipsy Troop for obvious reasons. Phear lap runs the races and makes sure the house’s favorite horses win. Mr.Chimes runs the non-gambling ordeals, the slots for example. Chips Bettigan is a cowboy turned poker dealer. Talks up a storm, but always respectful. Pip and Dot were something else. Victoria had no idea what they were doing here or what they do, but they were rude and very loud. Hopus Pocus is crazy. There’s no other way around it. He’s actually a very good magician and Victoria enjoyed his shows, he was just a lunatic. Pirouetta was in charge of the roulette tables and was a lovely woman and most likely the nicest one here. They spoke regularly and were, dare she say it, friends. She spent the most time with Mangosteen and Mr. Wheezy. Within the six months she had been here, almost every night Victoria had been in a fight. Some were worse than others, but the three bouncers took care of each other and had each others back.They all had bandaged, stitched, and iced their wounds. Because of this, a mutual respect had formed between the three. Those that fight together stay together, Wheezy had jokingly said one day over a game of cards.

Despite this, Victoria never truly felt safe. The Devil was always watching, either himself, through the imps’ eyes, or by King Dice’s accounts, he never let things go awry in his casino. The Devil had developed this bad habit of demanding spells and potions from her. Mostly violent ones that require disgusting ingredients that she, fortunately, doesn’t have to hunt for. Making them makes her skin crawl and she has no idea what he uses them for and she isn’t sure that she wants to know. Walking down to the Devil’s office, she assumed that he needed another potion. The only warning she had was Dice’s “Boss wants to see you,” with no other context. Quickly putting her braids up in a ponytail, she knocked on the door and went in at the command of enter. 

“Sir, you wanted to see me?”

“I have a job for you, Victoria. A debt needs to be collected.”

* * *

 

Victoria got to leave the casino. If only it was for the reason she wanted. It was time to collect on Cagney Carnation’s soul contract. Of course he chose me, she thought. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping as if the world was completely unaware of the betrayal that was about to occur. She wished the ferry rides to Isle 1 had been longer just so she could keep some semblance of peace before everything went to hell. When she arrived, his garden had been growing well, and it looked like it had expanded some as well. It looked lovely and it seemed that he had planted a few more of her plants. Some of his Sycamore Seeds were out and about, watering plants and uprooting any weeds they found. Victoria hoped they would get somewhere safe when the fighting started. Seeing him watering his plants without a care in the world made her heart hurt, but it was better to do this now than to put it off any longer and risk even more heartbreak. The sound of her footsteps alerted him of her presence.

“Victoria! It’s so good to see you, “ he embraced her in a quick and leafy hug,” How long are you in town for? Have you seen your family yet?”

“Cags-” Her voice was raw and full of emotion and she wouldn’t meet his eyes.”

“Is something wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Cagney, I’m so sorry.” and she took out a parchment from her pocket that had, in big elegant script, ‘Notice of Repossession.’ His worried look quickly faded into indifference as he finally took notice of the sword at her hip. 

“I hope you can forgive me.”

He didn't answer. He just covered his face and grew, and grew, and grew, until he was ten feet taller than he was just before and quills covered his entire body. Victoria drew her sword and wiped away whatever tears had slid down her face and she advanced. She aimed a diagonal at his stem, but he elongated his face at just the right moment to knock her off her feet. The ground beneath her started to shake and crack open as his vines aimed directly for her. Forgoing her sword for the moment, she barreled out of the path and sprang back up to her feet onlooking of the oncoming barrage of attacks, and faked a lunge for the rapier. Cagney took the bait and Victoria climbed the vines to his face and started landing hit after hit at his eyes and mouth. Cagney shook her off and she stuck the landing with a backflip. While he was dazed from the blows to the face, she sprinted towards the sword. Unfortunately, he saw this little trick and took this moment to morph his head into a gatling gun and shot multitudes of seeds at it while impaling his roots deep into the ground. Victoria dove for the sword when the roots shot out of the ground and nearly impaled her through the heart. Seeds implanted themselves into her sword arm and then she knew nothing but pain. Blood started to drip from the wound and she lost all feeling in her arm. Sounds started to fade into white noise. Her vision faded into black. Then nothing.

* * *

 

Victoria woke up in a bed. It wasn't her bed at the casino, and it wasn't her bed at home. Instead, everything around her was a bright white. The sheets, the ceiling, the walls, even the tray by her bed was white. She was so absorbed with the brightness around her that she didn't even notice the figure by her bedside that got closer when they noticed she was awake. Her breathing got faster as she tried to get away from the stranger.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, it’s Wheezy,” He put a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her down, “You’re in the hospital.” 

“Wheezy? What ha-” Her voice was raw and he helped her take a sip of water,”What happened?”

“You got hurt pretty bad. Doctor said your arm is infected.”

Now that she was aware of it, she looked and nearly vomited at the sight. Covered in gauze all the way up to her collar bone, bits of blood had seeped through and it burned like someone had set it on fire. Her vision started to blur and blend together and she raised a hand to forehead to find it drenched in sweat. She couldn’t get out a single word before she passed out again. 

* * *

 

She woke to a heavy weight on her shoulders that pinned her down to the bed. Something wrapped itself around her upper arm and held on tight, but she could not open her eyes. Her jaw was forced open and something solid was pressed in between her teeth, and in an instant she knew what was going to happen. Victoria started thrash and pull against the hands on her, trying desperately to get away from the cold steel of the saw. More restraints held her feet to the bed and as soon as the saw started to move she stopped. There were no words to describe the pain she felt. She lost the feeling in her jaw about halfway through from biting to hard. She didn't notice the tears that were falling in rivers down her face, but she did feel the sorrowful look from the person holding her down. When this is over, she thought, I’m going to give them a hug and kiss.  

* * *

 

Victoria didn't wake up in the hospital. When she opened her eyes, she found the bright red ceiling of her room at the casino a strange comfort, like it could have been a long and horrifying nightmare, but the pain in her shoulder told a different story. The wound her heart had sustained was gone, healed up with the stump she assumed, but the memory of the saw cutting through the skin was still fresh in her mind. She took a breath to brace herself and snuck a glance. Everything from her shoulder down was gone. All that was left was rows of stitches helping heal the wound. A lump in her throat formed and tears started burning behind her eyes but she refused to cry. Nowhere left to go but up, she told herself, and that’s exactly what she’s going to do. Getting up of the bed, she made her way to the closet to get fresh clothes on instead of the silk nightgown someone had put her in. Getting dressed with one arm (and not even her dominate arm) was more difficult than it should have been, but she managed to get on a simple white button up with slacks and suspenders holding them up. Victoria was about to leave when the door opened and revealed The Devil and King Dice carrying something.

“Boss? What are you doing here? I probably look a fright-”

“I just came to help with your little problem,” Dice passed him the oblong object he was holding and unwrapped it,” A new arm.”


End file.
